1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to packaging enclosures for holding and protecting dispensible products, and more particularly, to resealable packaging enclosures.
2. Description of the Related Art
Typically, packaging enclosures which hold a large number of dispensible products, such as napkins or other sheet-like products, are opened once to initially retrieve the products from the enclosure, and remain open until the products are exhausted. In instances where these dispensible products are used intermittently by a consumer, the package may remain open for many months, thereby being subjected to moisture, dirt, or other environmental elements which might contaminate the products.
Also, bulk products such as the napkins mentioned above are often enclosed in a flexible wrapping material such as plastic film and are pre-compressed so as to reduce the package size. When a consumer opens the plastic film to retrieve the napkins, the plastic is typically ripped in a haphazard manner which may result in the napkins or other products spilling out of the packaging due to the precompression utilized to pack the napkins tightly within the packaging material.
There are known in the prior art flexible, resealable packaging enclosures which utilize a flap for resealing an aperture through which the products are dispensed. Typical of such packaging configurations is U.S. Pat. No. 4,192,420 to Worrell, Sr. et al. That patent discloses a pliable, moisture-impervious package configuration wherein the shape of a pivoting flap which covers an aperture is defined by perforations made in the packaging material. The flap is also coated with an adhesive on one side such that it may be attached to a separate portion of the packaging cover to reseal the aperture.
The present invention provides an improvement in the configuration and structure of resealable packaging enclosures such as described in Worrell, Sr. et al. One object of the present invention is to provide a resealable packaging enclosure which provides easy access to dispensible products contained within the enclosure.
It is further object of the present invention to provide a resealable packaging enclosure which can protect the contents of the enclosure from moisture, dirt, or other environmental elements to thereby reduce any risk of contamination of the products contained within the enclosure, even during lengthy storage.
It is still a further object of the invention to provide a resealable packaging enclosure which resists premature opening from forces exerted on the enclosure during shipping and handling, while simultaneously providing relatively easy access to the contents of the enclosure once in the hands of the consumer.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.